Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Let’s pray, think, and listen for God’s direction.
This Spring I received a phone call from our District Superintendent, Rev. John Farley. He asked me – and us – to prayerfully consider being a part of a United Methodist outreach to the Korean families of North County. He contacted 3 churches but Hope United Methodist Church has the greatest number of Korean families in our community, with over 25% of our Preschool families being of Korean descent. This and the vibrant health and sense of missional outreach that we have at Hope, made our Church the first choice for this Korean ministry.
Drew Davis and I talked together casually and thought of a couple quick reasons why it would not work, but we prayed on it and thought some more. A little while later we got a letter from John Farley saying that he had a sense of call from God to support a North San Diego County Korean ministry. And so we prayed some more and talked some more and shared the idea with the Lay Leader and Church Council director and some random members. We brought it up at Church Council and met a couple of times with the potential ministry leaders.
In each meeting, we started out with a whole lot of questions and thoughts about potential friendships and potential pitfalls. And then those who have been talking and praying about it are having a sense of mission and calling.
So now it is time for the whole church to pray and talk and listen and voice interests and concerns and questions, and then say, “Huh! Now there is an idea.”
During the sermon this Sunday I will talk about the idea of a Korean outreach at Hope United Methodist Church. The sermon is about “Patience” as a Fruit of the Holy Spirit, following Jesus with enough Patience to listen and think and talk carefully and allow things to happen in the right way.
Two weekends later, on Communion Saturday and Sunday – August 6 & 7 – I will devote most of the message to hearing and responding to God, concerning this ministry. We already know Jesus calls us to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all the nations.” What we are praying about is whether God is calling us specifically to do this right here and right now.
Please see if you can make one of these first three gathering times to have open conversations with each other:
- · Sunday, August 7, at Noon. A light punch will be served.
- · Tuesday, August 9, at 2:00 PM.
- · Wednesday, August 10, at 7:00 PM.
Please join me in praying for God’s guidance:
Lord, lead us. Call us to what you want us to do. Lead us to reach out to the communities in your ways. Help us to listen carefully to see if this is your specific calling to us. Amen.
Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Brian Kent
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